Erika cautiously confessed,

"I'm actually... an Apprentice 5th Rank magician."

“…”

Leon was, in fact, secretly surprised by her words. Reaching the 5th rank as an apprentice in her early twenties was certainly not an ordinary talent.

However, Leon saw no particular reason why he needed to know this. Erika, sensing his indifference, anxiously shifted her weight.

“Did I startle you by bringing this up so suddenly?”

“A little, yes.”

“I-I'm sorry. But...”

Awkwardness was evident on Erika's face.

“No, it's fine. Is there something bothering you?”

“Bothering me?”

Leon replied with a puzzled expression.

“No, nothing.”

“I see. Please feel free to let me know if you need anything.”

“…”

What was this about? Leon couldn’t quite grasp the sudden change in Erika's attitude.

After that, Erika didn’t speak to Leon again. However, whenever he made even the slightest movement in the carriage, she would quickly turn her head to ask if he needed anything.

“…”

Leon was starting to wonder what Erika’s true intentions were.

The carriage slowly advanced along the narrow forest path. As long as they reinforced their guard when the terrain got rough or the darkness thickened, there were no significant problems.

Occasionally, there were attacks from wolf packs during the night, but they weren't particularly threatening. Leon easily handled them during his watch, and Medriga also proved adept at dealing with the monsters’ assaults.

In the midst of this peaceful journey, it was the small, trivial things that troubled Leon the most.

“Everyone, please gather for your rations.”

Leon sighed as he heard the call. He already anticipated what would happen next.

“Please wait a moment.”

Erika quickly spoke and headed toward the supply area.

But before Erika could reach him, Medriga had already approached Leon, handing him a warm stew and some dried meat. Erika’s face hardened as she arrived just moments too late. Medriga, with a triumphant expression, glanced at Erika and twitched his mustache slightly.

Leon averted his eyes from Erika's frustrated expression.

“Thank you, but you really don’t need to do this.”

“Haha, no worries. I’m doing it because I want to. Just call on me whenever you need something.”

Medriga answered cheerfully, flashing a victor's smile at Erika. She bit her lip, struggling to suppress her frustration.

Watching this unfold, Leon felt a headache coming on.

Meanwhile, Erika seemed to have thought of something and turned her attention to Kito, who was resting on Leon’s head. She cautiously approached and asked,

“Have you eaten?”

“I don’t need to.”

“…”

Erika’s face fell into despair.

After she walked away in disappointment, Kito quietly spoke.

“I prefer Medriga.”

“Why?”

“He’s quicker on his feet.”

“…”

“And he has no ulterior motives.”

It seemed Kito also suspected Erika of harboring other intentions.

Leon sighed, pondering how to resolve this strange relationship.

Three weeks after the carriage set off, a rugged mountain range appeared as they passed through the forest.

“That’s the Rivein Mountains.”

Tris said curtly, his voice tinged with tension. As the name of the notorious Rivein Mountains was mentioned, the adventurers around him heightened their vigilance.

The reason they had brought a hundred Silver-ranked adventurers was to ensure safe passage through these treacherous mountains.

As the carriage began to climb the steep mountain paths, the caravan’s experience shone through. As expected of a trading caravan, they swiftly dealt with minor issues, and even when a carriage wheel broke, they resumed their journey without significant delay.

However, the real challenge lay with the monsters inhabiting these mountains.

“A mountain troll!”

Just as Leon was taking a rest, a monster attack occurred. The carriage came to a halt, and the heavy presence of trolls could be felt all around them.

Of course, Leon wasn’t too concerned. A hundred Silver-ranked adventurers wouldn’t be easily defeated. Though they hadn’t had a chance to draw their weapons when Leon used his magic, it didn’t mean they lacked skill. Medriga was also quite capable of handling the situation.

“Can you learn rune inscriptions in the Empire?”

Kito asked Leon.

“Probably.”

“So you’re not sure.”

“We’ll have to give it a try anyway.”

Just as the central magic library in Widia had many magical texts, Leon wondered if the Empire had something similar.

“Are you planning to make a new nest?”

“A new nest…”

Astelia School. It was the school Arfina had mentioned to Leon, suggesting he visit.

“I’m planning to go there, yes.”

“Arfina… wasn’t she the woman who showed quite an interest in you?”

“Interest?”

Leon pondered for a moment. Denying it outright would seem strange. If she wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t have given him the Sutra of Harmony.

“But did you really care about such things?”

“Now that you’re my master, it’s only right to keep an eye on those interested in you.”

“I didn’t realize you were so dedicated to your duties.”

“Hmph.”

As Leon and Kito conversed, there was a knock on the carriage door. Rising to answer it, Leon opened the door to find Medriga standing there, his mustache slightly askew.

“Master Teo! I’m terribly sorry to disturb your rest.”

“What is it?”

“C-could you help us? There are more trolls than we anticipated…”

Leon realized that the battlefield had yet to be fully secured. This truly was the Rivein Mountains, after all.

“Understood.”

“Thank you so much!”

Medriga’s face showed a mixture of relief and gratitude.

Leon felt a pang of sympathy for Medriga. A lower-ranked magician having to bow his head to a higher-ranked one was a reality that resonated with Leon. Even though Medriga could be arrogant in front of commoners, Leon wasn’t one to reprimand him for that.

Moreover, Medriga was middle-aged. It couldn’t have been easy for him to bow to a boy of only fifteen.

‘Is this too Confucian of me?’

The world of magicians was cold, and such sentiments might not even exist.

Leon quickly exited the carriage and floated into the air.

“It’s Master Teo!”

“The magician is here to help! Hold on!”

As Leon surveyed the battlefield, he saw that ten enormous trolls with skin as hard as rock were surrounding the carriages. One troll had already been taken down, likely due to the adventurers' efforts and Medriga’s earth-based magic, judging by the numerous sword marks and stones embedded in its body.

Leon turned to Medriga and asked,

“Was your magic ineffective?”

“No, it’s just that mountain trolls need to be killed with a powerful blow, and my magic is specialized in earth, so…”

Medriga’s voice trailed off, as if embarrassed.

Each troll was being held off by a group of ten adventurers, and they seemed to be handling it well enough. However, the real problem was the additional trolls that were still approaching from behind.

“Do trolls usually appear in such large numbers?”

“As far as I know, it’s rare for so many trolls to attack at once…”

Leon extended his palm toward one of the trolls.

“Fall.”

Crash

A lightning bolt struck the troll, sending it crashing to the ground.

“GRAAAH!”

The massive troll let out a pained roar as it collapsed.

These trolls, unlike the monsters deep within the Beast Forest, didn’t seem to have high magical resistance. They had impressive regeneration, but their defenses weren’t so strong that apprentice-level magic couldn’t penetrate, like the golems in the ancient magician’s lair.

The trolls had no means of defending against magic infused with the power of sorcery.

“A lightning strike out of nowhere…”

“It’s the magician’s spell!”

The adventurers' sweat-soaked faces lit up with hope.

Seeing that his attack had been effective, Leon quickly summoned nine more lightning bolts. In an instant, ten trolls were wiped out.

Leon called out to Tris, who was leading the adventurers.

“Hold on a little longer.”

Leon immediately began calculating the sorcery spell.

Sorcery magic, Glory’s Lightning.

As Leon’s concentration reached its peak, the surrounding air began to tremble, and an immense amount of magical energy started to swirl. The force was so overwhelming that Medriga, eyes wide with shock, stumbled backward in alarm.

The sky rapidly darkened with ominous clouds. Even the trolls, sensing the gathering power, hesitated for a moment. But they had no time to fully grasp the true extent of the power about to be unleashed.

Rumble

Thunder roared as the sky split open. Lightning bolts rained down furiously on the more than twenty trolls charging toward them.

Boom! Boom!

Lightning flashed in rapid succession, and the ground trembled with the impact of the strikes.

The trolls were utterly helpless against this overwhelming force. The massive creatures, once boasting of their formidable size, were now reduced to smoldering ruins amidst the smoke and flames.

“This is the power of a magician…”

The adventurers stared in awe at the scene before them. The power of a magician was far stronger and more overwhelming than anything they had ever witnessed.

“Are we even the same species…?”

“Watch your words.”

Tris, trying to remain composed, scolded the speaker while surveying the surroundings, though he himself couldn’t help but feel a pang of helplessness. It was as if cold water had been splashed over his pride. They had struggled to hold back the troll horde, only for the magician to annihilate them in less than a minute.

As the adventurers gazed at the battlefield littered with troll corpses, they were once again reminded of the immense power a magician wielded.

As Leon descended to the ground, Erika approached, offering him a cloth.

“To wipe away your sweat…”

“I’m fine.”

Leon responded with an awkward smile. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Medriga clicked his tongue, realizing he was a step too late.

‘Can’t you just stop competing over such things?’

“This is sorcery magic… Truly remarkable.”

Medriga, who had quietly approached, looked at Leon with pure admiration.

The group resumed their journey, but unlike their smooth passage through the forest, they were continuously assaulted by more monsters.

“Don’t you think this is strange?”

One of the adventurers beside Tris spoke in a tense voice. Tris nodded gravely.

“Is this… a monster stampede?”

Even for the Rivein Mountains, it was unusual for monsters to attack this frequently.

Suddenly, a giant shadow loomed over them. Tris gasped in shock.

“Is that… a thunderbird?”

“Isn’t that a monster that lives at the peak of the Rivein Mountains? Why has it come down here? This makes no sense! Someone must be luring these monsters toward us!”

A sense of impending doom began to close in around them.